NEW YORK Carmelo Anthony scored 22 of his 30 points in the first quarter, and the New York Knicks held on after he departed with a sprained left ankle to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-107 on Thursday night in coach Mike D'Antoni's return to Madison Square Garden.

LOS ANGELESJust a couple practices with Mike D'Antoni turned the Los Angeles Lakers into a team that played with more freedom, space and pace offensively, even though he had not taken the bench yet, and Steve Nash is still days away from a return because of his left-leg fracture.